The Syrian refugee crisis was brought closer to home as Syrian native Qutaiba Idlbi discussed the challenges of being a refugee in America during an election year.
Idlbi addressed a packed Neumiller hall, filled with students, faculty and members of the community. The event was hosted by the International Affairs Organization, Muslim Student Association, Peoria Area World Affairs Council, the Institute of International Studies and the Center for Legal Studies.
Idlbi is a native of Damascus and lived in Syria until he came to the United States in 2013. He was present when riots broke out in Syria in March 2011. After being detained twice by internal security services, he was forced to leave the country, which is when he came to Washington, D.C.
According to Idlbi, his father was an active participant in peaceful protest before he passed away.
“My dad was one of the leaders of the [peace protests] in the ‘60s. But I didn’t even know my dad was an activist … until he died,” Idlbi said. “I was 15, and my brother was 20, and people were coming over, and the first day, one of his friends decided that each person should come up and speak about my dad. So within three days, I basically knew all this stuff about my dad I didn’t know before.”
Idlbi said after hearing of his father’s actions he recognized the importance of peaceful protests, something that would become prevalent later in his life when the Syrian crisis began. In March 2011, protests began in Syra, and Idlbi participated. However, the Syrian government did not approve of the movements sparked by the Syrian people.
“Because [the government] couldn’t control demonstrations, they sent the army in,” Idlbi said.
After the Syrian army was sent in, protests became violent, and Idlbi lost close friends, something he said he didn’t know how to deal with.
“We lost a lot of our friends, but it was the first time I felt like we couldn’t have a lot to say,” Idlbi said. “[My brother] told me, ‘This is the first time you lose people, but they’re still in one piece.’ It was as if they’re asleep.”
After two years of protesting, Idlbi came to America in 2013 and is now the co-founder and operating manager of People Demand Change, a social enterprise with the goal of providing a sustainable model for implementing and supporting aid in places like Syria.
Idlbi started the organization because he said the Syrian people are in dire need of any aid available to them.
“We have 13.5 million people in need … and they’re not getting enough water, or medicine,” Idlibi said. “They’re way under the poverty line, in need of immediate assistance every day.”
According to Idlibi, the upcoming presidential election has a lot of weight in how the country deals with the Syrian refugee crisis.
“With the elections coming next week, a lot of people wonder about the different positions of [the] candidates,” Idlibi said. “I don’t like to talk about it much because I’m not American, but I think it’s a little more than internal … You’re not just electing the President of the United States, you’re basically electing the person who will be leading the international community.”
Students in attendance said bringing Idlibi to campus was very helpful in hearing a perspective from someone close to the Syrian crisis.
“I think it’s really important that we continue to bring stuff like this to campus,” Sean Faron, a junior political science major, said. “I went to the last thing [International Affairs Organization] did about climate thing and it was great. It has high attendance, these kind of issues are super important, especially as college students who have time to be active about this kind of thing.”
Kelsey Burge, a member of the International Affairs Organization, said having Idlbi come to campus helps college students understand how they can make a change.
“As college students, even though it sounds cheesy, we are the future,” Burge, a senior international studies major, said. “I think it’s important to learn about these issues now and get a stance on them, really figure out how we want to continue forward and shape the world essentially, shape our futures.”
